What's Good for the Goose

What's good for the goose, is good for the gander, right?  If I'm going to look at my writing and my descriptions of my female characters in Farmer's Daughter, then I have to be honest and take a look at the male characters.

Do I have to????

I think this is an area that I really kind of fall short in.  I really skimp on describing my male characters, even worse than the women.  There's just not that much there.  The Carman's are all noted as having auburn hair, the matriarch Maude being described as just having dark hair.  There is no other description of Philip that I can think of off the top of my head other than he has brawny arms.  Which makes sense if you consider that he's an active farmer.

Craig, the male lead and Angela's romantic interest, is taller than her though I never specify by how much beyond stating that she swims in his clothes.  Brown hair, brown eyes.  She thinks he's handsome; several of the female characters share that opinion.  One can conclude that he's physically fit given that he actively maintains his black belt in karate.  In my head, given my mood on any given day he bears a striking resemblance to either a young Stephen Caffrey (The sole reason why I watched Tour of Duty) or Chris Pine (my current Hollywood favorite).

Everett Crane is described as being tall and slim with red hair and green eyes with wrinkles around them.  And he likes to wear suits.  A lot.  The typical dress code for the mob, right?  It's commented later in the novel that he's older than Philip.  A similar comment is made about Doctor Evans looking a great deal older than Philip.

Is my lack of description good or is it a failing?  I'm not sure at this point.  At least the very least I highlight what I think is "important" when looking at a man.  My husband's eyes were the deal clincher for me, back when I first noticed him and just had a 'crush'...I took one look into those hazel-green eyes and thought, "Oh my God, you've got to be kidding me!"  I've been hooked ever since.

The one character who receives negative descriptions would be Harry Flynn, one of the minor male antagonist.  He's referred to as greasy, not just shorter than Craig (because we see him early on having to look up) but also smaller than him.  In my initial re-scan of our first meeting of Harry Flynn, I could find no reference to his hair color or his eye color.  He's also referred to as weaselly, though it's far more a commentary to his character than any physical appearance.

Even though I don't think it detracts from the story at all, and allows the reader to use their own imagination as to the minor details of the characters appearances, I may have to work on this for the next book in the series, Ring Of Fire.


For those of you who celebrate Halloween, have a happy and safe one!